The invention relates to an identification card, in particular an all-plastic identification card, having user-related and user-neutral data, in which the data are directly accesible on at least one of the card surfaces, as well as a method of producing such identification cards.
Identification cards in the form of credit cards, bank cards, cash payment cards and so on are employed increasingly in all kinds of service sectors, cashless payments and within enterprises. Due to their extensive use, they are typical mass production items, on the one hand, i.e. their production must be simple and economical; on the other hand, they must be designed in such a way that they are protected against forgery and falsification to as great a degree as possible. The many types of identification cards already on the market and still in a stage of development testify to the efforts of the relevant industry to optimize these two contradictory conditions.
In particular, it is necessary that the data related to the card owner, which are applied during the so-called personalization of the identification card, be protected in such a way that they cannot be manipulated afterwards. One possibility that has proved very useful in practice is the embedment of a paper inlay designed as a security print in a multilayer card. The paper inlay with its security features known in the production of security papers, such as watermarks, security threads, steel intaglio printing, etc., meets the highest standards of safety and is protected against all kinds of attempted forgery and falsification due to the protection of the data by a transparent cover film.
Mainly because of their much simpler and cheaper production, all-plastic identification cards are also used in the identification card sector, in which the identification card data and the general printed pattern are applied to the outer surface of a small plastic card, that may be multilayered, if desired. In various forms of execution the user-related data (name, account number, etc.) are impressed in this type of identification card through the back of the card so as to be in relief on the front. This allows for the transfer of the personalization data onto bills, etc. by means of an ink-ribbon in the various stores.
In spite of the economic advantages, these all-plastic identification cards have proved to be disadvantageous in that the directly accessible printed pattern and the personalization data are relatively unprotected against attempted falsification. The impressed data can be "ironed flat", for example, and then impressed over with other data.
The printed pattern is removed, if necessary, by means of chemical solvents available everywhere and then replaced or added to by another printed pattern.
In order to improve the legibility of the impressed data, the raised areas of the impressed writing are colored accordingly. The ink, however, is exposed to great stress in precisely this area, so that the legibility of the data varies considerably and changes constantly in the course of time. The use of this type of card in automatic, optical card-readers is therefore not possible. Due to the impossibility of providing photos inside the identification card, the universal use of this type of card is not possible either.
It must finally be mentioned that the identification cards are very unevenly stressed by the impressing process, which usually leads to a deformation of the body of the card. In addition to the resulting difficulties with respect to packaging, storage, etc., the use of these identification cards in general automatic identification card testing devices, e.g. for the reading of magnetic data, also involves difficulties.
Taking the security and production aspects into account, the German application No. 29 07 004 also disclosed an identification card having a card inlay made of paper and a transparent cover film, in which the person-related data are inscribed into the card inlay by means of a laser beam after the cover film has been laminated on. The necessary information can be burned into the inlay in this way, but it can also be present in the form of the discoloration of a thermosensitive coating applied to the inlay.
This type of card offers a high degree of protection against falsification and forgery, since the data are protected by the cover film against direct access.
As the burning in of the identification card data more or less destroys the structure of the material, these local areas are relatively susceptible to mechanical stress.
This is not detectable visually due to the cover film arranged on top of the data in the case of the known identification cards, and is not disturbing in any way due to the protection afforded by the cover film.
The discoloration present in a thermosensitive coating is relatively easy to remove or imitate when it is directly accessible, which makes the personalization of identification cards in the above-mentioned way appear rather unfeasible in the case of identification cards having data directly accessible on the outer surface.
The problem of the invention is therefore to provide an identification card which can be personalized in a final procedural step after its completion, in which the personalization data can be freely selected with respect to their form and design and can be provided so as to be directly accessible on the surface of the identification card and in which attempted falsification can be readily detected without auxiliary means.